CUTTACK: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata has been directed by the Orissa High Court to accept the application of a candidate for Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics (PGDBA) course, who was rejected on grounds of not conforming to the eligibility criteria.
Acting on a writ petition filed by one M Nageswara Rao, a division bench comprising Justice I Mohanty and Justice B Ratha passed the interim order directing PGDBA Office, IIM Kolkata to accept the application of his son pending disposal of the petition. The court has also directed IIM Kolkata to file its response by April 24, the next date of hearing.
The petitioner, whose son is a prospective candidate for the course, had filed the writ petition challenging the eligibility criteria fixed by the All-India Council of Technical Education, IIM Kolkata, IIT Kharagpur and Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata for admissions to the said course.
It was stated before the court that the authorities have fixed the eligibility criteria that the applicants having qualification of 10+2+4 graduates are eligible to apply. Terming the fixation of eligibility criteria as violative of the National Education Policy, which lays down that the 10+2+3 graduates are nationally accepted, the petitioner had appealed to the court to quash the same.
Counsel for the petitioner Aditya Das further stated that such criteria clearly denies the right to be considered for all candidates from the 10+2+3 regime and therefore violates the Fundamental Rights of a candidate to be considered for the PGDBA discipline.